The Isley Brothers

DuranDuran

Proud Member
Joined
Aug 27, 2011
Messages
12,545
Points
113
ji2hb8.jpg

24y47td.jpg

51ge2VjH83L._SL500_AA240_.jpg
ChrisJasper.jpg
21QRWV8DH6L._SL500_AA200_.jpg

286v4vm.jpg

First formed in the early '50s, the Isley Brothers enjoyed one of the longest, most influential, and most diverse careers in the pantheon of popular music -- over the course of nearly a half century of performing, the group's distinguished history spanned not only two generations of Isley siblings but also massive cultural shifts which heralded their music's transformation from gritty R&B to Motown soul to blistering funk. The first generation of Isley siblings was born and raised in Cincinnati, OH, where they were encouraged to begin a singing career by their father, himself a professional vocalist, and their mother, a church pianist who provided musical accompaniment at their early performances. Initially a gospel quartet, the group was comprised of Ronald, Rudolph, O'Kelly, and Vernon Isley; after Vernon's 1955 death in a bicycling accident, tenor Ronald was tapped as the remaining trio's lead vocalist. In 1957, the brothers went to New York City to record a string of failed doo wop singles; while performing a spirited reading of the song "Lonely Teardrops" in Washington, D.C., two years later, they interjected the line "You know you make me want to shout," which inspired frenzied audience feedback. An RCA executive in the audience saw the concert, and when he signed the Isleys soon after, he instructed that their first single be constructed around their crowd-pleasing catch phrase; while the call-and-response classic "Shout" failed to reach the pop Top 40 on its initial release, it eventually became a frequently covered classic.

Still, success eluded the Isleys, and only after they left RCA in 1962 did they again have another hit, this time with their seminal cover of the Top Notes' "Twist and Shout." Like so many of the brothers' early R&B records, "Twist and Shout" earned greater commercial success when later rendered by a white group -- in this case, the Beatles; other acts who notched hits by closely following the Isleys' blueprint were the Yardbirds ("Respectable," also covered by the Outsiders), the Human Beinz ("Nobody but Me"), and Lulu ("Shout"). During a 1964 tour, they recruited a young guitarist named Jimmy James to play in their backing band; James -- who later shot to fame under his given name, Jimi Hendrix -- made his first recordings with the Isleys, including the single "Testify," issued on the brothers' own T-Neck label. They signed to the Motown subsidiary Tamla in 1965, where they joined forces with the famed Holland-Dozier-Holland writing and production team. Their first single, the shimmering "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)," was their finest moment yet, and barely missed the pop Top Ten.

"This Old Heart of Mine" was their only hit on Motown, however, and when the song hit number three in Britain in 1967, the Isleys relocated to England in order to sustain their flagging career; after years of writing their own material, they felt straitjacketed by the Motown assembly-line production formula, and by the time they returned stateside in 1969, they had exited Tamla to resuscitate the T-Bone label. Their next release, the muscular and funky "It's Your Thing," hit number two on the U.S. charts in 1969, and became their most successful record. That year, the Isleys also welcomed a number of new members as younger brothers Ernie and Marvin, brother-in-law Chris Jasper, and family friend Everett Collins became the trio's new backing unit. Spearheaded by Ernie's hard-edged guitar leads, the group began incorporating more and more rock material into its repertoire as the 1970s dawned, and scored hits with covers of Stephen Stills' "Love the One You're With," Eric Burdon & War's "Spill the Wine," and Bob Dylan's "Lay Lady Lay."

In 1973, the Isleys scored a massive hit with their rock-funk fusion cover of their own earlier single "Who's That Lady," retitled "That Lady, Pt. 1"; the album 3 + 3 also proved highly successful, as did 1975's The Heat Is On, which spawned the smash "Fight the Power, Pt. 1." As the decade wore on, the group again altered its sound to fit into the booming disco market; while their success on pop radio ran dry, they frequently topped the R&B charts with singles like 1977's "The Pride," 1978's "Take Me to the Next Phase, Pt. 1," 1979's "I Wanna Be With You, Pt. 1," and 1980's "Don't Say Goodnight." While the Isleys' popularity continued into the 1980s, Ernie and Marvin, along with Chris Jasper, defected in 1984 to form their own group, Isley/Jasper/Isley; a year later, they topped the R&B charts with "Caravan of Love." On March 31, 1986, O'Kelly died of a heart attack; Rudolph soon left to join the ministry, but the group reunited in 1990. Although the individual members continued with solo work and side projects, the Isley Brothers forged on in one form or another throughout the decade; in 1996, now consisting of Ronald, Marvin, and Ernie, they released the album Mission to Please. Ronald and Ernie hooked up several years later for Eternal (2001), a brand-new selection of R&B cuts featuring collaborative efforts with Jill Scott, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and Raphael Saadiq. On that particular release, Ronald also introduced the alter ego Mr. Biggs.
 
The Isley Brothers (IPA: /ˈaɪzliː/) are a Grammy-winning American R&B/soul group who are one of the few groups to have long-running success on the Billboard charts placing a charted single in every decade since 1959 and as of 2006 was still charting successful albums performing under a repertoire of doo-wop, R&B, rock 'n' roll, soul, funk, disco, urban adult contemporary and hip-hop soul in the last six decades with a variation of lineups ranging from a quartet to a trio to a sextet to finally a duo.

Background

Originally raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, the original group consisted of the four elder sons of O'Kelly Isley, Sr. and Sally Mae Isley: Kelly, Rudy, Ronnie and Vernon Isley originally singing nothing but gospel music starting in 1954. The group disbanded in 1955 shortly after a road accident claimed the life of Vernon Isley and reformed in 1957 with Kelly, Rudy and Ronnie, who recorded with small labels singing doo-wop and rock 'n' roll. After modest success with singles such as "Shout", "Twist and Shout" and the Motown single, "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)", and a brief tenure with Jimi Hendrix as a background guitar player, the group settled on a brand of gritty soul and funk defined by the Grammy-winning smash "It's Your Thing", in 1969. After reforming the group as a six-member lineup in 1973 featuring younger brothers Ernie and Marvin and brother-in-law Chris Jasper, they became known to fans as 3 + 3 and charted gold and platinum success with albums such as 3 + 3, The Heat Is On, Go For Your Guns and Between the Sheets, while charting a succession of hit singles such as "That Lady", "Fight the Power", "For the Love of You", "Don't Say Goodnight (It's Time For Love)" and "Between the Sheets", between 1973 and 1983. After the younger brothers splintered from the group in 1984, the remaining trio continued recording until Kelly's death from a cancer-related heart attack in 1986. Rudy left the group for a career in the ministry in 1989 disbanding the group once again with Ron releasing solo records, sometimes performing under the Isley Brothers name. In 1991, Ron reformed the group with Ernie and Marvin returning to the lineup. Since 1997, after diabetes forced Marvin into retirement, the lineup has been Ron and Ernie, now on hiatus due to Ron's current prison sentence after a tax evasion conviction in 2006. Much like The JB's, Parliament-Funkadelic, DeBarge and Zapp, the Isleys are among one of the most sampled groups in hip-hop history with their recordings sampled by the likes of 2Pac, The Notorious B.I.G.,Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Ice Cube and Snoop Dogg among others.

History

Early years


After the death of younger brother Vernon, older brothers Kelly, Rudy and Ron were convinced by their parents to forge on with their singing group. Reforming in 1957, the brothers moved to New York and began recording secular music, basically in the doo-wop genre. In 1959, RCA Records signed the group after catching them in concert where they had opened for R&B star Jackie Wilson. Their second release from the label, "Shout", became the group's first charted single, reaching number 47 on the Billboard Hot 100 though it failed to chart on the R&B chart. The single, written by the three brothers, was a modest single when the group released it but the song gained a mainstream following after cover versions by singers such as Lulu and Joey Dee and the Starlighters helped the song eventually sell over a million copies. Motivated by its success, RCA later re-released the group's original version in 1961 but the song only peaked at number 92. A follow-up success to "Shout!" never came and the group was released from their contract.

Signing with Wand Records in 1962, the group scored their first top forty single, "Twist & Shout", an uptempo rock single originally recorded in a calypso production by the Top Notes. The Isleys' version, which had a more rock flavor, influenced many groups including The Beatles, who would record the single the following year finding huge success before the group moved on to record their own compositions. After several more releases, the group left Wand Records in 1964 and formed T-Neck Records after moving to New Jersey. Finding only local success with the single "Testify", recorded with a young Jimi Hendrix on guitar, the group temporarily folded T-Neck and signed with Motown's Tamla imprint in 1965. The following year's "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)" gave the group their biggest success yet on the American Billboard chart reaching number twelve on the Hot 100 and number six R&B. Much like their earlier tenures in other labels, the Isleys couldn't come up with a follow-up and complaining of being given "leftover tracks" from the label's staff songwriters such as Smokey Robinson and Holland-Dozier-Holland, they asked to be let go of their contract in 1968.

Upon separating from Motown, the group discovered that they had a huge following in England where three of their Motown singles had reached the top forty (among them included "This Old Heart", "Put Yourself in My Place" and "Behind a Painted Smile"). Touring in the UK that year, they returned to the US with a new image and sound. Signing with Buddah Records, the group recorded the gritty soul single, "It's Your Thing", a noted departure from their earlier recordings and showcasing a more independent sound in addition to featuring younger brother Ernie on bass, it was released under the group's revived T-Neck label and eventually rose to number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 becoming their biggest charted success selling over a million copies and winning the group a Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group. The success of "It's Your Thing" reportedly irked Motown CEO Berry Gordy who had agreed to let the band leave Motown in 1968 and Gordy began making accusations that "It's Your Thing" was recorded while they were still in Motown, which the group denied. After several years, Gordy settled with the group out of court. The group released a succession of seven albums for Buddah which ranged from uptempo James Brown/Sly Stone-styled funk/soul and classic rock realized after the band released the covers album, Givin' It Back, which featured revisions of rock hits by WAR ("Spill the Wine") and Stephen Stills (their cover of "Love The One You're With" was a top forty hit for the group) and even their former band mate Jimi Hendrix ("Machine Gun"). After releasing the rock-tinged Brother, Brother, Brother and a live album, the group left Buddah after being offered a long term deal with Epic by Clive Davis, then president of CBS Records.

3 + 3

Before releasing their first Epic album, the Isleys reformed as a sextet with background band members and brothers Ernie and Marvin and brother-in-law Chris Jasper - Rudy Isley had married Chris' sister Elaine - being reassigned lead roles as the group's instrumentalists/writers. Their 1973 album, aptly titled 3 + 3, featured the crossover hit, "That Lady", and featured guitarist Ernie Isley in a memorable solo near the end of the song. The album later would be certified gold starting the group's most successful period. In 1975, the group hit number-one on the album chart with The Heat Is On, featuring the socially-conscious funk single, "Fight the Power", its title later interpolated by Public Enemy a decade later. Now notable for mixing funk singles with slower and sexier quiet storm singles, their second single from the album, "For the Love of You", showed the contrasts of sounds with Ron Isley taking on a more smoother tenor than in the early years of the group. The Isley Brothers' run of success would last well into the early eighties when their 1983 album, Between the Sheets, was issued featuring the "title track", later sampled famously by The Notorious B.I.G. Tensions within the group were occurring by this time with the two halves of the group arguing over musical direction. Chris Jasper later said the infighting with group members, and lead singer Ron Isley in particular, was so bad that he hasn't talked to some of the brothers after he, Marvin and Ernie left the group in 1984 to form Isley-Jasper-Isley. The 3 + 3 period is still considered by some as the most notable Isley Brothers era sandwiched between the group's earlier classic rock/soul period and the group's later tenure into smooth urban contemporary music. While the group members shared lyrical composition rights, it's noted most of the group's singles were musically constructed by Ernie, Marvin and Chris while allowing Kelly, Rudy and Ron to share credit easily splitting royalties with the members. In 1985, however, the brothers found themselves in trouble with the IRS for not paying back taxes and evading payments. To settle, the group agreed to sell their label folding the company, though its imprint's logo would still be on Isley Brothers records. All of the group's T-Neck singles are in the control of Sony Music. Afterwards, the group left Epic for Warner Bros. Records.

Later years

In 1985, Isley-Jasper-Isley scored their only big hit with "Caravan of Love", the song has sometimes been referred to as an "Isley Brothers song" even though it was released by three of the actual group's former members. The same year, the elder original members released Masterpiece, which featured a cover of Phil Collins' "If Leaving Me Is Easy". A year later, Kelly Isley succumbed after suffering a heart attack in his New Jersey home. He was 48. In 1987, Rudy and Ron dedicated the Angela Winbush-produced Smooth Sailin', in Kelly's memory. Nearly two years before the release of 1989's Spend the Night, also produced by Winbush, whom Ron married soon after, Rudy left the group to become a minister leaving Ron to carry on a solo career, where he found success duetting with Rod Stewart on a remake of "This Old Heart of Mine". In 2000 Michael Bolton unsuccessfully tried to buy the Isley Brothers' catalogue after the Isleys won a lawsuit alleging that Bolton's song "Love Is a Wonderful Thing" plagiarized their 1966 Motown track of the same title.[1]

Around the same time, Ron reformed the Isley Brothers with Ernie and Marvin returning to the lineup to record the album, Tracks of Life, in 1992. That same year, the group was inducted to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. In 1996, the group released their first hit album in years with Mission to Please, boosted significantly because of lead singer Ron Isley's music video character, "Mr. Biggs", created by frequent collaborator, hip-hop/R&B singer R. Kelly, who first used Isley in the 1996 single for his hit, "Down Low". The character would dominate much of the group's later recordings and helped to gain the group a brand new audience. The group - now enlisted of Ron and Ernie - would top that success with their biggest-selling release, 2001's Eternal, which featured their biggest hit single in over twenty years with "Contagious", a song written by Kelly who recorded it as Mr. Biggs' answer to "Down Low". The single and its heavily rotated video returned the Isley Brothers to the top of the music chart. Eternal eventually sold more than two million copies. With "Contagious" and Eternal, they had become the only group to have a single and album chart in over five decades longer than any group in recording history (42 years). They stretched their streak with 2003's gold-certified Body Kiss, which was their first number-one charted album in nearly thirty years since The Heat Is On, and their first to debut at number-one, and which featured the top fifty single, "What Would You Do", and 2006's Baby Makin' Music, which peaked at number five on the Billboard 200.

But the Isleys haven't been without struggle. In the years since their comeback to the music charts in 1996, Marvin Isley retired in 1997 due to a bout with diabetes which have since amputated both his legs. Rudolph "Rudy" Isley has had health problems over the years but has said his faith in God has kept him alive, he currently lives in California with Elaine Jasper Isley, his wife of over forty years. Chris Jasper has recorded sporadically over the years since the split of Isley-Jasper-Isley in 1988. Ernie Isley is currently working on his first solo album in nearly twenty years after the release of 1990's High Wire. The most supported and famous of the group, Ron Isley, has also suffered hard times, recently convicted of tax evasion charges in 2006 after he was accused of not paying back taxes between 1997 and 2002, giving band mates cash rather than taking the money to cash a check, and using money from his late brother Kelly's estate to continue his "expensive lifestyle". After quietly divorcing Winbush in 2002, Ron married for a third time to his backup singer Kandy Johnson, formerly of the group JS, and became a father again in 2006. He also has a daughter from a previous marriage. In 2004, the singer suffered a mild stroke during a touring schedule in London. During his court case, it was revealed Isley, now 66, has kidney cancer and failing organs. Isley's lawyers have tried pleading with the judge to give leniency to the singer, who was sentenced to serve 37 months (at least three years) in prison but have been denied. Isley is currently serving his sentence and will be released on a tentative date of April 2010. The Isley Brothers were inducted to the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2003. They released their first Christmas album last year on their second release with Island Def Jam.
 
Last edited:
Actually now that I've heard the original from '64, I have to say their funked-up 1973 version isn't really much a cover but a do-over in a rock music form. Only the Isleys could do that!
 
ah i read past the 1964 bit - there would have been no Jasper in that original recording! it sounds good though.
 
That's because Chris Jasper was just a teenager (and possibly was just starting his friendships with the younger Isley members Ernie and Marvin) when the original was recorded.

I fully credit Chris for their unmistakable '70s sound:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2apQA2UzyQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVJzPiJufkY&feature=related

I think he also convinced Ron to tone it down when it came to the vocals. It worked and Ron has used that vocal style ever since. That's what R&B fans nowadays are used to. That's why very early Isley recordings are eye-openers especially those familiar with the '70s and '80s slow jams.
 
What many people don't know is that much of the drumming on the records was done by Ernie.
 
Last edited:
You notice most of the seventies ballads they did featured Ronald solo with Marvin (bass), Ernie (drums, guitar) and Chris (keyboards, synthesizers)? LOL

It's still an Isley Brothers record because it was the band rather than a "vocal group" as they had been for twenty years before 1973.
 
Last edited:
You notice most of the seventies ballads they did featured Ronald solo with Marvin (bass), Ernie (drums, guitar) and Chris (keyboards, synthesizers)? LOL

It's still an Isley Brothers record because it was the band rather than a "vocal group" as they had been for twenty years before 1973.
Actually, the younger three were on the albums before 3+3 starting in 1969, they just weren't official members.
 
is one of the bros still in prison over tax if not when did he get out
 
thought he got done for it a good few years ago. google says it was 2006 and he got 3 years. thought it happened alot earlier
 
Last edited:
last year? how come if he was sentenced in 2006? that strange rule about only having to give yourself up b4 a certain date?
 
Last edited:
He filed for appeal or asked for leniency. They gave him a date until he couldn't do nothing but turn himself in. He actually was trying to get President Bush to pardon him but that didn't work tho. And he was sent to jail sometime in April of '07.
 
Ronald did an album with Burt Bacharach 2 or 3 years ago. It's great. This is one of two songs written especially for this project.
In Between The Heartaches

This is a remake of one of Burt's classics:
The Look Of Love
 
Last edited:
I LOVE the Isley Brothers. Another of several great bands I can't get enough of.

"For The Love Of You"
"Groove With You"
"Contagious"
"That Lady"
"The Pride".

They are masters of slow, soulful R&B and blistering funk tracks.

And if you want another great track that's kind of obscure, check out "Ernie's Jam" from their "Eternal" album. A nice rocking track with awesome guitar work by Ernie Isley.
 
^^^Eternal is the only Mr. Biggs era album that I have, plus the album with Burt Bacharach. My friend has the others. Many of the songs on the other ones are dull R. Kelly stuff, with maybe 2 or 3 songs that I could get into. But I like the Eternal album.
 
Well, the Eternal album has some of R. Kelly's stuff too though. I actually enjoyed "Body Kiss". R. Kelly may be an acquired taste when it comes to fans of old-school music, though I think R. Kelly at least did good by not hip-hopping all his tracks for the Isley Bros. They are similar to Kelly's mid-90's stuff, which I'm also a fan of. "Busted", "What Would You Do" (and it's remix) and "Lucky Charm" are all tracks I enjoy. I didn't enjoy the most recent album. The only good track on it I thought was "Blast Off" (also an R. Kelly track). The rest seemed like filler.

Ron Isley is also on a bunch of other stuff I like. I have the Bacharach/Isely album too, and their version of "Alfie" is probably my fav.

"Showdown" was a good track from Kelly's "Chocolate Factory" album.

He did "Downlow" on Kelly's self-titled album.

He did "She Don't Know My Name" on Nelly's "Suit" album.

The only bad thing I can say is that 1. He's in jail (you can actually look his name up on the federal prison inmate list... we all did it at work for some morbid amusement) and 2. I have a live DVD they put out a couple years ago and his voice was very, very weak and the show really depressing. I'm not sure if it was a bad night or if his voice is heavily made-up in the studio, but it was a weak. Live DVD's of some of the people I like are actually hard to come by, and to get it home and see the state of his voice was a letdown.
 
Last edited:
He did "She Don't Know My Name" on Nelly's "Suit" album.
He's also on the "Pimp Juice" remix.
2. I have a live DVD they put out a couple years ago and his voice was very, very weak and the show really depressing. I'm not sure if it was a bad night or if his voice is heavily made-up in the studio, but it was a weak. Live DVD's of some of the people I like are actually hard to come by, and to get it home and see the state of his voice was a letdown.
I think that was filmed around the time he had his minor stroke, so his health probably wasn't very good. I like Busted. I think that was the only song I liked from that album. I don't like R. Kelly's music or his voice. The only songs I like of his is "She's Got That Vibe", "Be Careful" with Sparkle, and maybe that "step" song (not sure of the title). Like Timbaland, I think his best stuff was with Aaliyah. I liked some of the "Mr. Biggs" songs though. Particularly Kelly Price's "Friend Of Mine" remix. "You Are Not Alone" for MJ is nice, but "One More Chance" is bland. I liked one of the remixes better.
 
Well, the Eternal album has some of R. Kelly's stuff too though. I actually enjoyed "Body Kiss". R. Kelly may be an acquired taste when it comes to fans of old-school music, though I think R. Kelly at least did good by not hip-hopping all his tracks for the Isley Bros. They are similar to Kelly's mid-90's stuff, which I'm also a fan of. "Busted", "What Would You Do" (and it's remix) and "Lucky Charm" are all tracks I enjoy. I didn't enjoy the most recent album. The only good track on it I thought was "Blast Off" (also an R. Kelly track). The rest seemed like filler.

Ron Isley is also on a bunch of other stuff I like. I have the Bacharach/Isely album too, and their version of "Alfie" is probably my fav.

"Showdown" was a good track from Kelly's "Chocolate Factory" album.

He did "Downlow" on Kelly's self-titled album.

He did "She Don't Know My Name" on Nelly's "Suit" album.

The only bad thing I can say is that 1. He's in jail (you can actually look his name up on the federal prison inmate list... we all did it at work for some morbid amusement) and 2. I have a live DVD they put out a couple years ago and his voice was very, very weak and the show really depressing. I'm not sure if it was a bad night or if his voice is heavily made-up in the studio, but it was a weak. Live DVD's of some of the people I like are actually hard to come by, and to get it home and see the state of his voice was a letdown.

The stroke really had an affect on his voice. Plus he was moving like he was 80 on stage. :( That's what having a stroke will do to you. Makes you lethargic. I was pleasantly surprised he got through it actually.
 
Back
Top